Photograph by: Greg Southam, file
, Edmonton Journal

TORONTO — In the wake of the end of a relationship, it’s the post-mortem get-togethers that are the hardest things to deal with.

The run-ins at parties; the crossing of paths at the grocery store; the accidental third-wheel surprise on one parties’ date.

Ricky Ray and the Edmonton Eskimos will do their dance on Sunday at 5 p.m., the equivalent of a well-intentioned but uncomfortable attempt at a how-have-you-been dinner.

Ray’s successes in Toronto are one part of the awkward equation. A Grey Cup ring from the 2012 Canadian Football League season, followed up by perhaps the best play of his career to date — his quarterback rating (128.6) and his passing percentage (76.4) are at all-time highs through five games — are a glaring contrast to what the Eskimos are bringing to the table.

A combined 8-16 since Ray was traded to the Argos in Dec. 2012, the Eskimos are 1-5 this year and on a four-game losing streak. Their quarterback situation is better this year than it was a year ago, with Mike Reilly taking the offence in the right direction, but they are learning on the fly. The league is affording the Eskimos no luxuries, with their last two losses coming on plays in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and a combined six points.

A nine-year Eskimo who threw passes to Edmonton’s now-general manager Ed Hervey for two Grey Cup wins (2003 and 2005), Ray was asked if he felt for the Eskimos this season.

“Not really,” was his nonchalant response, which drew laughs from the media scrum around him.

“I don’t really think about it too much. I’ve seen so much happen in this league, with B.C. doing what they did a few years ago (surviving a 0-5 start in 2011 to win the Grey Cup).

“Even us, I started out slow in 2010 and we came up to the last game (of the regular season) with a chance to play in the playoffs. I’ve seen teams start slow and finish strong like we did last year and I’ve seen teams start fast and finish slow and limp into the playoffs. Anything can happen and you really don’t feel sorry for any other team. You just feel good about what you’re doing out here.”

Eskimos linebacker T.J. Hill said Edmonton’s situation doesn’t feel any different in Toronto.

“We know who we are and it’s all about what we’ve got to do out there,” Hill said. “Ricky’s going to be Ricky. You know what your going to get (with him) and at the end of the day you hope he makes one more mistake than he wants to, if he makes any.”

Eskimos slotback Fred Stamps, who was Ray’s main beneficiary in the pivot’s final years in Edmonton, said there’s no quit in his team, regardless of what has happened so far. To their credit, that’s a trait that Reilly preaches in the locker-room this year.

“The crazy thing is a lot of people are looking at us like we’re at the bottom of the barrel, but we’re a good team,” Stamps said.

“The way we look at it, we’re just a few inches away from victory. What we have to do is get some momentum and just execute our plays. We haven’t lost faith in our locker-room; that’s important.”

There’s plenty of faith in the Argos’ locker-room these days. Jason Barnes, who left the Eskimos as a free agent in 2012 to join the Argos with Ray, still shakes his head in disbelief over what his quarterback has done this season.

“He’s a machine,” the slotback said.

“I haven’t seen him complete that many passes. You don’t really notice it. He’s like the guy on the hoop court that scores an ugly 30.

“You don’t even notice. You look up and he has 35 points, but that’s Ricky. He doesn’t miss people often and if he does it’s probably the receiver’s fault,” Barnes said, laughing.

Laughing is easy when you’ve won and when you play with a quarterback who over one season showed every football fan in the country how poor a decision trading him was.

The past is the past, Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed said on Saturday.

“This franchise has banged the gavel on the fact that Ricky is now a Toronto Argonaut,” he said.

“I enjoyed the brief time I had to work with Ricky. He was a true professional and someone I admire because of his professionalism and his success is something I applaud, but hopefully not (on Sunday).

“For the sake of this franchise, we’ve moved forward. We have a quarterback in Mike Reilly whom we feel tremendously confident in and we really feel that he’s taken tremendous steps over the last six games.

“We’re looking forward to him to continually improve and be that franchise quarterback in place of Ricky. He probably won’t be Ricky Ray, but he will definitely be a pretty good quarterback in this league for a long time.”

The players may not think about it, but as Ray continues to turn the field into an operating table in the prime of his career, the reminder is present of what the Eskimos had, what might have been and how painful these well-intentioned get-togethers can be.

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